Macabre (1980) Horror Necrophilia

Macrabre (1980)  Lamberto Bava's first solo directing job, having worked in tandem with his father the great Mario Bava prior to this chance. On the bio in the special features in the disc I watched it says "Macabre received good reviews but didn't have much success with the public -- everyone said it wasn't violent enough. But the violence was played down internationally, otherwise the story would have deteriorated into bad taste eroticism." Certainly the cut I watched was violent in it has violence to children. There is some eroticism but it is so damn strange that most people would not find it erotic at all. It is really a strange film about madness and sexual desire, but there is a heavy dose of the consequences to family that comes from that obsession. The story came to Bava after seeing an article in a New Orleans paper which he thought would make a great plot. Because his budget was small they shot the film In Salo Italy on Lake Garda where the small town was eager to help get a film made. Then they flew to New Orleans for just a few establishing shots to give the place the right feel. THIS WILL BE A SPOILER FILLED COMMENTARY SO WATCH THE FILM BEFORE CONTINUING.
 Jane Baker (Bernice Stegers) is cheating wife who leaves her children alone while she goes across town to carry on a torrid love affair with Fred (Roberto Posse).  Her daughter Lucy (Veronica Zinny) 12 feels that something is up and her Mom is not going to a meeting like she says she is. Lucy you can see is figuring her mother out and the attention she craves as a child is not being met by her parents. She manages to put together her mother has gone to her lover Fred's apartment and calls there confirming this when her mother answers the phone. While Jane and Fred meet for a tryst, Lucy craves her Mother's attention more and decides to drown her 5 year old brother in the bathtub as a way to get Jane to pay more attention to her. Unlike today where we are very chaste about showing violence to children the scene of Lucy shoving the boy under the water is remarkable. Then she calls Mom back to report the child's accidental drowning a cold blooded killer that Lucy. Jane and Fred race back to her house at high speed. They never make it though as they crash into a guard rail trying to negotiate a corner at speed. Fred is horribly killed in the accident. In the interview on the disc says that he only wanted to suggest what happened to Fred but not show it. He was planning a larger reveal later so he was trying to hide the results of the accident. He may have failed in that. I knew exactly watch was happening in the scene. Of course I have watch a shit ton of these kinds of films and pick up quite a bit in the first watching that others miss.
  One year later, Jane is leaving a mental institution trying to piece together some sort of life. Her marriage ruined by the events she takes up residents in Fred's apartment. Her landlord Fred's blind brother Robert (Stanko Molnar). Now this was weird from the start even in the early scenes we have Fred and Jane loudly enjoying each other's company and Robert downstairs with nothing to do but listen. Now she is back and acting not totally together. She checks out the apartment including the locked freezer inside the refrigerator. (Maybe her lover's head is in there? That is what I thought at this point) She is grieving walking around the place. Robert is so sad in that he makes some Campell's Chicken Noodle soup for her. He is disappointed when she refuses. She has plans dressed in almost nothing she sets up a shrine to her former lover,laying on the bed desiring Fred who is no longer with her. Is this the weird part her pretending to have sex with the dead man or the fact that the apartment is not sound proof and Robert lays below listening to her...again.
  Lucy a year older and dressing a bit more grown up is not done with her Mother yet. Still seeking that attention she and her father Leslie go to see Jane. Mom practices greeting them in front of the mirror seeming a bit off her rocker with her maniacal laugh. Daughter is way too enthusiastic and Jane is not having any of it. The awkward visit is really uncomfortable to Leslie who really is a victim here having lost his wife and son on the same day and now having to deal with Jane just so Lucy can snoop around the house.
Jane has a ritual almost reliving the day that Fred died. She changes into her shear lingerie and sits and does her makeup. Then she pretends to here him come in downstairs and goes to meet him. She then returns to the bedroom and we hear her lust filled exultation as she writhes on the bed. Mostly we see the confused face of Robert in the rooms below her as he hears everything she is doing. There are no real sex scenes in this film, and it was intentional according to Bava. He purposely had the sex hidden like how Catholics approach it. So the scenes with Jane are all under covers. The fact that Robert can her and not see what is happens furthers the concept that sex is unseen. There is also at one point this teasing of Robert by Jane where she is suggestive to him only then to return to her fantasy about Fred. It spurs Robert to get a friend to tell him about accident. He learns that Fred was decapitated. So he starts suspecting this are awry. and checking around in Jane's room does not make things any better. Where's the trust? When he finds the locked freezer door it really leaves him wondering. What is in there? Although the Robert character adds some intrigue I am not sure it really works very well. Still there are some real interesting scenes between him and Lucy.
  When Lucy comes by and manipulates her way into her Mom's room she purposely leaves an image of the little brother. She seems to be still motivated to get her Mom to come home. Lucy has done everything she has to get her Mom to pay attention to her. Very upsetting to her Jane. She is a disturbed woman and Lucy playing with her emotions and interfering with her fantasy life does not go over well. Lucy makes a point of going to Jane's place on the anniversary of Michael and Fred's death. She is a different kind of disturb this little kid is in real need of some psychological help. Taking advantage of Robert's blindness she is also trying to get to the bottom of her Mother's behavior. She thinks that her Mom has a new lover boy is she wrong finding the head in the freezer just before her Mom came home. In the climax Lucy comes to the house for her visitation weekend with her Mother. She cooks her a nice chicken and rice soup and makes a point to leave an earlobe in the soup so her Mother knows that she knows about the head. She in her over confidence admits she killed her brother  and that puts Jane over the edge. Irony in her death at her Mother's hands. Maniacal the craziness continues with Robert  and then one last session with her lover this time in full view of the audience. Locked in and alone the blind man must defend himself against Jane who has gone completely off her rocker. The last fantastical scene is an amazing movie ending twist. All and all this was a bit of a slow mover and a bit too telegraphed for me to give it a recommendation.